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The Owls Plexus 
All original material © Bruce G. Marcot
The Owls Plexus is a segment of The Plexus web site

updated:  16 November 2021


Contents

Mythology, Art, Science, and Tributes to Owls
Photos of Owls
Recordings of Owls
Science Reports on Owls by Bruce Marcot
References


Mythology, Art, Science, and Tributes to Owls 1.


Bruce G. Marcot Spotted Owl Collection, 1951-1997
, Oregon State University Library, University Archives, Corvallis Oregon USA -- "The Bruce G. Marcot Spotted Owl Collection consists of publications, reports, studies, and correspondence assembled or generated by wildlife biologist Bruce G. Marcot pertaining to the spotted owl, the management of its habitat, and its status as an endangered species. The materials include studies of the spotted owl in California and and the southwestern United States in addition to the Pacific Northwest." Collection web site 
    collection information (21 KB PDF), collection contents (8KB PDF), 

The "Vegetation-Fire-Owl" Project -- Research on potential effects of forest vegetation management, and fire and fuels management, on Northern Spotted Owls in the eastern Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon. 

Owl mythology:
Marcot, B. G., and D. H. Johnson. 2003. Owls in mythology and culture.  Pp. 88-105 in: J. R. Duncan. Owls of the world: their lives, behavior and survival. Key Porter Books, Ltd., Toronto, Canada. 319 pp. [5.2MB]

     An earlier version of this chapter posted on-line:  Mythology:  Owls in Lore and Culture.
     A recent update, with my interviews on owl myths in Tanzania, east Africa, with a Chagga tribal member and a Maasai village chief.

Myth of the Tawny Frogmouth 'Owl'

The strange story of the owl who called my name.  

The spirit of owls ... and Song of the Spotted Owl.  (Poetry.)

A tribute to Dr. Karel H. Voous, the man who loved owls (and who wrote an owl poem). 

     The year was 1988.  Conservation of old-growth forests and Northern Spotted Owls was a raging social and political issue in the Pacific Northwest U.S.  I was deeply embroiled in conducting one of the earliest population viability analyses of the owl (or most any species), while working on a regional environmental impact statement on owl habitat conservation.
     At the time, a fellow owl researcher sent me a Sierra Club greeting card with a Northern Spotted Owl on the cover.  At about the same time, I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and cracked open a fortune cookie.  Its message seemed fitting for the issues of the day, so I taped it onto the front of the card and have kept it ever since

Owls in Art  

Owl Postage Stamps from Zimbabwe -- Stamp out owls!


Belgium                            Swaziland                           Liberia


Photos of Owls by Bruce Marcot


    Owls listed here by genus; old genus names in brackets [ ].  Taxonomy here mostly follows König and Weick (2008); taxonomy of Tyto barn owls follows Christidis (2008) [see bottom of page for citations].
  

Tyto 

Athene 

Bubo 

Ninox 

Surnia 

Otus 

Megascops 

Ptilopsis 

Glaucidium 

Micrathene 

Strix 

Scotopelia 

Asio 

 



    Owl Eye Spots 
-- Examples of species of small owls with eye spots on the back of their heads. 

 


Recordings of Owls by Bruce Marcot 1

Athene 

Bubo 

Megascops 

Otus 

Ptilopsis 

Glaucidium 

Aegolius 

Strix 

Ninox 

Scotopelia 

  


Science Reports on Owls by Bruce Marcot

Marcot, B. G., D. B. Lesmeister, T. Wilson, E. Volkman, and P. Anderson.  2020.  Applying principles and methods of risk analysis: a case example of Northern Spotted Owl research in a dynamic pandemic landscape.  Research Paper PNW-RP-617.  USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Portland OR.  30 pp.  [Available here

Marcot, B. G.  2019.  Foreword.  P. vi in:  P. Mehta, S. Talmale, and J. Kulkarni.  All about owl diet. A manual on prey identification from owl pellets.  Raptor Research and Conservation Foundation (RRCF), Mumbai, India.  [PDF

Dunk, J. R., B. Woodbridge, N. Schumaker, E. M. Glenn, B. White, D. W. LaPlante, R. G. Anthony, R. J. Davis, K. M. Dugger, K. Halupka, P. Henson, B. G. Marcot, M. Merola-Zwartjes, B. R. Noon, M. G. Raphael, J. Caicco, D. L. Hansen, M. J. Mazurek, and J. Thrailkill. 2019. Conservation planning for species recovery under the Endangered Species Act: a case study with the Northern Spotted Owl. PLoS ONE 14(1):e0210643.  [PDF]   Also available here.  

Marcot, B. G. 2016. Noctural icons of a natural history observer [book review: The House of Owls by Tony Angell]. Northwest Science 90(2):245-246.  [PDF

Dunk, J. R., B. Woodbridge, E. M. Glenn, R. J. Davis, K. Fitzgerald, P. Henson, D. W. LaPlante, B. G. Marcot, B. R. Noon, M. G. Raphael, N. Schumaker, and B. White. 2015. The scientific basis for northern spotted owl conservation: a response to Loehle, Irwin, Manly, and Merrill. Forest Ecology and Management 358:355-360.  [PDF]   

Marcot, B. G., P. H. Singleton, and N. H. Schumaker.  2015.  Analysis of sensitivity and uncertainty in an individual-based model of a threatened wildlife species. Natural Resource Modeling 28(1):37-58. [PDF]   

Raphael, M. G., P. Hessburg, R. Kennedy, J. Lehmkuhl, B. Marcot, R. Scheller, P. Singleton, and T. Spies.  2014.  Assessing the compatibility of fuel treatments, wildfire risk, and conservation of northern spotted owl habitats and populations in the eastern cascades:  a multi-scale analysis.  Final Report JFSP Project 09-1-08-31.  Joint Fire Science Program (http://www.firescience.gov/).  25 pp.  [PDF].  
Also see:  Vegetation-Fire-Owl Project

Marcot, B. G., M. G. Raphael, N. H. Schumaker, and B. Galleher.  2013.  How big and how close? Habitat patch size and spacing to conserve a threatened species.  Natural Resource Modeling. 26(2):194-214.  [PDF]  
     Appendix on Methods: [PDF]

Marcot, B. G.  2007.  Unique songs of African Wood-Owls (Strix woodfordii) in Democratic Republic of Congo.  Gabar 18(1):16-24.  [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G.  2007.  Magellanic Horned Owl's retreat: nest and prey remains.  Web report
This also links to:
Marcot, B. G.  2006.  Prey remains of Magellanic Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) at Perito Moreno, southern Argentina.  Found here

Marcot, B. G.  2007.  Owls in native cultures of central Africa and North America.  Tyto Newsbrief 11(March):5-9. [PDF

Marcot, B. G., and R. Molina. 2006.  Conservation of other species associated with older forest conditions.  Pp. 145-179 in:  R. Haynes, B. T. Bormann, D. C. Lee, and J. R. Martin, eds.  Northwest Forest Plan--the first 10 years (1994-2003): synthesis of monitoring and research results.  General Technical Report PNW-GTR-651.  USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland OR.  292 pp.  [PDF

Marcot, B. G., S. Morey, and P. R. Phifer.  2006.  Summary of results: Threats Workshop, June 1-2, 2006.  Internal report to USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Team, Interagency Staff Team, Portland, Oregon.  18 pp. 

Marcot, B. G.  2005. Observations of owls in western Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a note on African Wood Owl vocalizations.  Tyto 9(4):9-15.  (Tyto-Newsbrief, International Owl Society)  [PDF]  Also available at: 
http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Studies+and+Papers&title=Congo+Owls 

Marcot, B. G., and D. H. Johnson. 2003. Owls in mythology and culture.  Pp. 88-105 in: J. R. Duncan. Owls of the world: their lives, behavior and survival. Key Porter Books, Ltd., Toronto, Canada. 319 pp.  [PDF]  Also, the entire book is available at Amazon.com  

Marcot, Bruce G.  2002.  Owls in Malawi and eastern Zambia.  Tyto 9(2):11-13.  (Tyto-Newsbrief, International Owl Society, September 2004.)  [PDF]   Also available at:  
http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Studies+and+Papers&title=Malawi+Zambia  

Olsen, J., B. G. Marcot, and S. Trost.  2002.  Do southern boobooks Ninox novaeseelandiae duet?  Pp. 320-328 in: I. Newton, R. Kavanagh, J. Olsen, and I. Taylor, eds.  Ecology and conservation of owls. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. [PDF]

Marcot, B. G., and J. W. Thomas. 1997. Of spotted owls, old growth, and new policies: a history since the Interagency Scientific Committee report.  Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-408. USDA Forest Service, Portland OR. 34 pp.  Available at: http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/viewpub.jsp?index=3018

Marcot, B. G.  1995. Owls of old forests of the world.  USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rpt. PNW-GTR-343. Portland OR. 64 pp.  Part 1 [PDF], Part 2 [PDF], Part 3 [PDF]

Thomas, J. W., M. G. Raphael, R. G. Anthony, E. D. Forsman, A. G. Gunderson, R. S. Holthausen, B. G. Marcot, G. H. Reeves, J. R. Sedell, and D. M. Solis.  1993.  Viability assessments and management considerations for species associated with late-successional and old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.  USDA Forest Service, U.S. Govt. Print. Office, Washington, D.C.  530 pp.  

Marcot, B. G. 1991. Use of models of spotted owl populations for building a conservation strategy. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 72(2(Supplement)):181-182.  [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G. 1991. Viability considerations for managing spotted owls in southern California mountains. Presented February 1990 at USDA Forest Service Workshop on Managing Spotted Owls in Southern California, held at California State Polytechnic University, Pomoa, California. 51 pp.  [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G., and M. G. Raphael. 1991. Modeling habitat capability for northern spotted owls. Process documentation for USDA Forest Service Final Spotted Owl EIS. USDA Forest Service, Portland OR. 40 pp.  [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G., and R. Holthausen. 1987. Analyzing population viability of the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest.  North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 52:333-347.  [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G., D. Carrier, and R. Holthausen.  1986. The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). in:  B. A. Wilcox, P. F. Brussard, and B. G. Marcot, eds. The management of viable populations: theory, applications, and case studies. Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford, CA.

Marcot, B. G., R. S. Holthausen, F. B. Samson, and A. B. Carey. 1985. Management and assessment of northern spotted owl populations on National Forests in Washington and Oregon.  In: Raptor Research Foundation Symposium on the Management of Birds of Prey.  International Meeting, Session 11:10.

Marcot, B. G., and J. Gardetto. 1980. Status of the spotted owl in Six Rivers National Forest, California. Western Birds 11:79-87. [PDF

Marcot, B. G., and R. Hill. 1980. Flammulated owls in northwestern California. Western Birds 11:141-149. [PDF]

Marcot, B. G.  1979.  A simple model for predicting no. of spotted owl territories. U.S. Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest, Fisheries and Wildlife. Eureka, California. 8 pp. [PDF]  

Marcot, B. G. 1978.  Prolegomena of the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) in Six Rivers National Forest.  USDA Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest, Eureka CA.  47 pp. [PDF]  



Contributor to:       


References

Christidis, L., and W. E. Boles. 2008. Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia.

König, C., and F. Weick. 2008. Owls of the world. Second edition. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 528 pp.
  



1  Some sounds and reports posted on Deane Lewis' OwlPages.

Photos on the top of this page are Ridgeway's Pygmy-owl (left) and Burrowing Owl (right),
both © Bruce G. Marcot.

Bruce G. Marcot may be contacted here.



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